LONDON: One of Pakistan’s first professional female economists, Rehana Islam, recently passed away in England, friends and family told Dawn.

Ms Islam had a career that spanned three decades, during which she worked at the World Bank, State Bank of Pakistan and various government ministries.

She was an advocate of interest-free banking and served on the federal government’s Zakat and Ushr policy group in the late 1970s.

Ms Islam excelled in her academic life, and topped the BA (Economics) exam at Aligarh University. She went on to pursue a Masters at the University of California, Berkeley, where she later returned to pursue a PhD that was cut short for personal reasons. Her thesis on Islam and Modern Social Security Systems remains unpublished.

She wrote on the subject of women’s rights and was published in leading newspapers in Pakistan. Post-retirement, she spent 17 years in Jeddah where she was a founding member and president of Pioneers, an entity formed for the improvement of the lives of Muslim women.

Economist Sakib Sherani remembers her as a “great inspiration to younger members, always encouraging them to realise their true potential by being as progressive, modern and knowledgeable as women in advanced societies while remaining within the boundaries of Islam”.

Ms Islam is survived by a son, three grandsons and two great grandchildren.

Published in Dawn, April 20th, 2023